Through the benefices of the Goodreads giveaway program, I enjoyed the great good fortune of receiving a free copy of Dan Fagin's landmark exploration of a fascinating example of the toxic effects of the byproducts of corporate activities on the the people who make their lives in the vicinity of those activities. The quality and depth of Fagin's journalism in Tom's River meets the highest standards; one would expect no less from a Pulitzer Prize winner. I think it bears pointing out that what distinguishes Tom's River as a historic achievement is not Fagin's exemplary skill in providing readers with a clear and compelling account of a tremendously complex and unfamiliar topic; rather, it is my strong view that Fagin has written a book of tremendous social and political importance that speaks to issues central to contemporary life in our country on an unprecedented level.

The particular subject of the book is cancer clustering in the wake of long-term business practices that ultimately result in a toxic environmental effect in the vicinity of the community of Tom's River, New Jersey.

I found this read truly inspiring. That said, it's worth noting that the problems faced by the people of Tom's River have long inspired my passionate interest; I hope to invest myself personally and professionally in addressing some of these particular issues. So, while this is a brilliantly crafted, important book for all fellow citizens to read, I admit I am not sure how fascinating, let alone deeply moving, the material will be. I am confident it will hold your attention throughout and engage your sympathies; Fagin's writing is well-tuned to effect these ends.

So what critical truths does Fagin illuminate that make this a must-read, beyond it's ability to keep your interest and make you care about the people at the heart of the events described? To keep things simple, I'll mention some particular issues that Fagin addresses not singly but in complex connection with other relevant realities; for example:--the effect of industrial activity on cancer risk and our lifespan and its quality generally;--the difficulty of assigning responsibility for any impact on our collective health as a practical matter;--the systems that allow impact on citizens to spiral out of control, unnoticed, so as to evade checks and balances that otherwise negotiate between personal and economic interests in the course of human affairs;--the resistance among political and business interests to seeing the cost of damage to human lives paid back or at least systematically eliminated, and moreover;--the incompetence of government and industry systems to effectively grapple with major effects of complex causation regardless of the best intentions upon discovery of those effects.

This is all too dry and general. Read Fagin; I can't do this book justice here, I'm afraid. Thanks for reading my attempt at a review; I hope it is somewhat informative at least. ( )

Sophie at Paper Breathers enthusiastically recommended Toms River and I’m glad I listened to her, because now I can wholeheartedly second her recommendation. The writing of Toms River was immediately engaging, focusing on the personal side of every part of the story. The events in Toms River unfold in parallel with details about the history of the pollutants dumped there and of regulation (or lack there of) of corporate dumping throughout history. Both sides of the story were equally fascinating and complimented one another well. Both stories included a large number of characters, but the author included enough reminders about who previously introduced characters were that it was easy to keep track of everyone.

Although I obviously sympathize more with the families than the people dumping pollutants, I think the author did a good job explaining the perspectives of the people who did the dumping. He also did an incredible job simplifying the statistics involved in trying to determine if the pollutants dumped in Toms River were responsible for causing a cancer cluster there. I thought he was fair and objective when presenting the arguments for and against Toms River being a true cancer cluster. He also did a nice job wrapping up everything related to the case. Personally I loved the mix of science, history, and personal stories in this book. Such a good mix of science and history and stories! Definitely a good pick for fans of books about the history of science or narrative nonfiction, but also a book I’d recommend to fans of CSI-like shows or conspiracy theories.

The problem for manufacturing companies, and especially chemical manufacturers, is what to do with the waste products. Disposing of it safely can get expensive and eat into profits, so historically companies just dumped it in a river and it was on its way to the ocean - or at least it wasn't their problem anymore. Of course, a river can only take so much before people start to notice... and complain!

Toms River was a pretty little place near the Jersey shore when Ciba-Geigy relocated their manufacturing there in 1949. They were moving operations from Cincinnati (and the Ohio River) where they'd been making fabric dyes from petroleum and tar products for years. Before that they'd made their products in Basel, Switzerland, along the banks of the Rhine River. They purchased a large piece of wooded New Jersey property and built their factory in the middle, surrounded by trees that hid it from the outside. But they didn't dump *all* their wastes into the river - that would have drawn complaints. Instead they burned some of it (at night to reduce complaints from the town) and built holding ponds on the property. Unfortunately those ponds weren't lined and the wastes seeped easily into the sandy soil (the level sometimes dropping as much as five feet in a day) and into the groundwater that provided the growing town's drinking water. But it wasn't just Ciba polluting the town and water. In an effort to keep disposal costs down, Union Carbide paid a contractor to "dispose" of their wastes and it and it ended up being dumped in a pit in a back corner of an old egg farm.

Dan Fagin tells the story of how a cluster of children in Toms River (actually named Dover Township) developed cancer and the medical sleuthing that was able to point the finger at the toxic wastes being generated nearby. And for a fairly lengthy book (460 pages) it's hard to put down. Fagin covers not only Toms River but also the history of how links to cancer were uncovered along the way - and it's a fascinating story. I found his explanations of how cancers happen (there are about 150 different kinds) as well as the history of the chemical industry very interesting, not to mention disturbing - the part about "salvation" in the title is misleading, since there wasn't much of it in the story. The science gets a little technical, but not overly so. And it's plain from the beginning who the bad guys in this story are, but Fagin does a good job explaining why it's so difficult to *prove* blame in such cases even if his telling doesn't always feel very balanced. And as for blame, Fagin makes it pretty clear it wasn't just the chemical companies - plenty of people from politicians to plant workers were perfectly willing to turn a blind eye to what was going on. ( )

The problem for manufacturing companies, and especially chemical manufacturers, is what to do with the waste products. Disposing of it safely can get expensive and eat into profits, so historically companies just dumped it in a river and it was on its way to the ocean - or at least it wasn't their problem anymore. Of course, a river can only take so much before people start to notice... and complain!

Toms River was a pretty little place near the Jersey shore when Ciba-Geigy relocated their manufacturing there in 1949. They were moving operations from Cincinnati (and the Ohio River) where they'd been making fabric dyes from petroleum and tar products for years. Before that they'd made their products in Basel, Switzerland, along the banks of the Rhine River. They purchased a large piece of wooded New Jersey property and built their factory in the middle, surrounded by trees that hid it from the outside. But they didn't dump *all* their wastes into the river - that would have drawn complaints. Instead they burned some of it (at night to reduce complaints from the town) and built holding ponds on the property. Unfortunately those ponds weren't lined and the wastes seeped easily into the sandy soil (the level sometimes dropping as much as five feet in a day) and into the groundwater that provided the growing town's drinking water. But it wasn't just Ciba polluting the town and water. In an effort to keep disposal costs down, Union Carbide paid a contractor to "dispose" of their wastes and it and it ended up being dumped in a pit in a back corner of an old egg farm.

Dan Fagin tells the story of how a cluster of children in Toms River (actually named Dover Township) developed cancer and the medical sleuthing that was able to point the finger at the toxic wastes being generated nearby. And for a fairly lengthy book (460 pages) it's hard to put down. Fagin covers not only Toms River but also the history of how links to cancer were uncovered along the way - and it's a fascinating story. I found his explanations of how cancers happen (there are about 150 different kinds) as well as the history of the chemical industry very interesting, not to mention disturbing - the part about "salvation" in the title is misleading, since there wasn't much of it in the story. The science gets a little technical, but not overly so. And it's plain from the beginning who the bad guys in this story are, but Fagin does a good job explaining why it's so difficult to *prove* blame in such cases even if his telling doesn't always feel very balanced. And as for blame, Fagin makes it pretty clear it wasn't just the chemical companies - plenty of people from politicians to plant workers were perfectly willing to turn a blind eye to what was going on. ( )

The problem for manufacturing companies, and especially chemical manufacturers, is what to do with the waste products. Disposing of it safely can get expensive and eat into profits, so historically companies just dumped it in a river and it was on its way to the ocean - or at least it wasn't their problem anymore. Of course, a river can only take so much before people start to notice... and complain!

Toms River was a pretty little place near the Jersey shore when Ciba-Geigy relocated their manufacturing there in 1949. They were moving operations from Cincinnati (and the Ohio River) where they'd been making fabric dyes from petroleum and tar products for years. Before that they'd made their products in Basel, Switzerland, along the banks of the Rhine River. They purchased a large piece of wooded New Jersey property and built their factory in the middle, surrounded by trees that hid it from the outside. But they didn't dump *all* their wastes into the river - that would have drawn complaints. Instead they burned some of it (at night to reduce complaints from the town) and built holding ponds on the property. Unfortunately those ponds weren't lined and the wastes seeped easily into the sandy soil (the level sometimes dropping as much as five feet in a day) and into the groundwater that provided the growing town's drinking water. But it wasn't just Ciba polluting the town and water. In an effort to keep disposal costs down, Union Carbide paid a contractor to "dispose" of their wastes and it and it ended up being dumped in a pit in a back corner of an old egg farm.

Dan Fagin tells the story of how a cluster of children in Toms River (actually named Dover Township) developed cancer and the medical sleuthing that was able to point the finger at the toxic wastes being generated nearby. And for a fairly lengthy book (460 pages) it's hard to put down. Fagin covers not only Toms River but also the history of how links to cancer were uncovered along the way - and it's a fascinating story. I found his explanations of how cancers happen (there are about 150 different kinds) as well as the history of the chemical industry very interesting, not to mention disturbing - the part about "salvation" in the title is misleading, since there wasn't much of it in the story. The science gets a little technical, but not overly so. And it's plain from the beginning who the bad guys in this story are, but Fagin does a good job explaining why it's so difficult to *prove* blame in such cases even if his telling doesn't always feel very balanced. And as for blame, Fagin makes it pretty clear it wasn't just the chemical companies - plenty of people from politicians to plant workers were perfectly willing to turn a blind eye to what was going on. ( )

Wikipedia in English

The riveting true story of sixty years in the life of a small town ravaged by industrial pollution, Toms River melds hard-hitting investigative reporting, a fascinating scientific detective story, and an unforgettable cast of characters into a sweeping narrative in the tradition of A Civil Action, The Emperor of All Maladies, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

One of New Jersey’s seemingly innumerable quiet seaside towns, Toms River became the unlikely setting for a decades-long drama that culminated in 2001 with one of the largest legal settlements in the annals of toxic dumping. A town that would rather have been known for its Little League World Series champions ended up making history for an entirely different reason: a notorious cluster of childhood cancers scientifically linked to local air and water pollution. For years, large chemical companies had been using Toms River as their private dumping ground, burying tens of thousands of leaky drums in open pits and discharging billions of gallons of acid-laced wastewater into the town’s namesake river.

In an astonishing feat of investigative reporting, prize-winning journalist Dan Fagin recounts the sixty-year saga of rampant pollution and inadequate oversight that made Toms River a cautionary example for fast-growing industrial towns from South Jersey to South China. He tells the stories of the pioneering scientists and physicians who first identified pollutants as a cause of cancer, and brings to life the everyday heroes in Toms River who struggled for justice: a young boy whose cherubic smile belied the fast-growing tumors that had decimated his body from birth; a nurse who fought to bring the alarming incidence of childhood cancers to the attention of authorities who didn’t want to listen; and a mother whose love for her stricken child transformed her into a tenacious advocate for change.

A gripping human drama rooted in a centuries-old scientific quest, Toms River is a tale of dumpers at midnight and deceptions in broad daylight, of corporate avarice and government neglect, and of a few brave individuals who refused to keep silent until the truth was exposed.

Advance praise for Toms River

“Toms River is an epic tale for our chemical age. Dan Fagin has combined deep reporting with masterful storytelling to recount an extraordinary battle over cancer and pollution in a New Jersey town. Along the way—as we meet chemists, businessmen, doctors, criminals, and outraged citizens—we see how Toms River is actually a microcosm of a world that has come to depend on chemicals without quite comprehending what they might do to our health.”—Carl Zimmer, author of A Planet of Viruses and Parasite Rex

“At once intimate and objective, Toms River is the heartbreaking account of one town's struggle with a legacy of toxic pollution. Dan Fagin has written a powerful and important book.”—Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe

“A thrilling journey through the twists and turns of cancer epidemiology, Toms River is essential reading for our times. Dan Fagin takes us on a breathtaking tour through a wide terrain of topics—cancer, the environment, carcinogenesis and prevention—yet manages to keep us engaged with deeply personal stories. He handles topics of great complexity with the dexterity of a scholar, the honesty of a journalist, and the dramatic skill of a novelist.”—Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

(retrieved from Amazon Mon, 30 Sep 2013 13:23:56 -0400)

▾Library descriptions

Recounts the decades-long saga of the New Jersey seaside town plagued by childhood cancers caused by air and water pollution due to the indiscriminate dumping of toxic chemicals.